First off, I want to say a BIG thank you! Great communication from the beginning and very responsive to any questions I had, help put me at ease from the start. Quick to respond and even called. I could never thank you all enough for the wonderful care I received whilst in India. Everyone was wonderful, from the sisters to the people bringing and clearing my food. I had a wonderful experience and will sing praises of the staff and facilities of the Fortis Hospital in Bangalore!

There are many things that come to my mind. My medical experience was extraordinary, I felt very well taken care of by the doctors and in general, by the hospital personel. Healthbase is very well organized and keep ahead of every detail, thank you. Also I had the best opinion of indian people. all of them were very special and kind to me.

Paul C from Canada suffered from arthritis of the hip with bone on bone changes. So he contacted Healthbase who coordinated medical care trip to India to treat his orthopaedic condition. He underwent Hip Resurfacing Surgery in Apollo Specialty Hospital in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India performed by Dr.Vijay Bose.

Paul`s Experience

Just to say we are home safe and sound after a highly successful trip

I am amazed at how good my hip feels even less than two weeks out of surgery

Nothing but praise for Dr. Bose and his team – the professionalism and coordination was exemplary.

Thanks to you and Healthbase for all the help in setting the process into motion.

Sandy`s Testimonial

I am doing excellent! I have never experienced any pain, still continuing with exercises for my hip . I share my story with those that know and don`t know of my trip to India and Dr. Bose and about Healthbase. I would do it all again if the need arises. The experience was diffiently life changing for me! I cannnot say enough awesome things about Sara from Healthbase,my questions were always answered in a timely manner ,and we never felt we were alone on our journey. I would be more than willing to give my number to speak to anyone about our trip and Dr.Bose! In one word it was amazing! Thanks again!

Bangalore, July 28, 2010: Fortis Hospitals conducts Asia’s first Custom Fit Knee Replacement Surgery in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). 56 and 59-year-old women suffering from degenerative disease of the knee brought to Fortis Hospitals with complications, underwent Asia’s first Custom Fit Knee Replacement Surgery. Patients were discharged within five days of the knee replacement operation. Patients started walking normally within a fortnight, unlike the usual 6-8 weeks required before resuming normal activities in the conventional surgery.

Dr. Sanjay Pai - Lead Orthopedic Surgeon, India

Lead orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sanjay Pai and his team at Fortis Hospitals Bangalore performed this revolutionary surgery by literally remodeling the anatomy of the patient’s knee and recreating or customizing a knee with the right kind of technology and expertise. The new custom fit knee replacement technology designs a perfect instrumentation system that matches the patient’s knee and ensures lesser pain, less tissue damage and faster mobilization.

According to Dr. Pai, “The two operations for knee replacement have been performed for the first time in Asia using the custom fit knee replacement technology. This is indeed a medical breakthrough and likely to revolutionize the way knee replacement surgeries are performed in India. We are glad to be the first adopters of this technology.”

Why Custom-Fit Knee
While conventional knee replacement surgeries retro-fit predetermined sizes of prosthetics on to the patients’ knee, this procedure is very different because it works on the principle that no two patients’ knees are similar. With this technology the patient’s knee is digitally recreated with 3D image mapping after taking into account the bone structure, weight ratios, gender, age and even mechanical alignment. Based on this 3D model the customized knee is created. Something, that just fits them right. This technology ensures far greater accuracy and reduces the operation time by almost 40% and also results in less loss of bone & tissues.

How Custom Fit Knee Works
In short there are 4 steps to building and fitting a Custom-Fit Knee:

Step 1: Understanding your knee
The process starts with a CT Scan of the whole leg from the hips to the ankle which is then used to create an advanced 3D image of the leg structure. The age, weight and gender are also taken into account, creating a complete patient imaging.

Step 2: Processing and planning
With the 3D plan of the leg structure in place, an anatomical model is created to determine the mechanical alignment – the basic philosophy on which the entire process rests. Virtual instrumentation is then done and the surgery is planned accordingly.

Step 3: Recreating the knee
Once the surgery is approved, the Custom Fit instruments are manufactured at state-of-the-art dedicated manufacturing centers. Even the individual patient name and data are etched on each unit to confirm identification during the surgery

Step 4: Fitting the knee
With the Custom Fit instrumentation in place, the knee bone is chiseled to perfection so that the prosthetics fit exactly without any requirement for later corrective surgeries. After a 60 minute surgery, the patient ill have the knee that fits you perfectly.

Benefits of Custom Fit Knee Replacement Surgery

Smaller incision

Less soft tissue damage

Lesser pain

Early and better mobilization

Better and pain free range of motion

Improves alignment and sizing by using computer generated images of the patients anatomy to determine bone cuts and implant positioning preoperatively

Better life span of the processes because of the accurate fit and alignment

If you have heard of medical tourism then you know it is the phenomenon that can buy you top-notch medical care at rock bottom prices with virtually zero waiting times. And you are probably also aware that India is one of the most popular medical travel destinations. What is great about India is you can get not only high quality care for low price but also certain unique treatments that not many other nations in the world offer, especially if you also factor in the unbeatable price. In the article below we talk about hip resurfacing surgery in India – a unique medical breakthrough technique for the treatment of hip pathology.

THE NEED FOR HIP RESURFACING
Your hip is a ball and socket joint. Both the ball and socket are covered by a protective layer of cartilage which makes the joint smooth and hip movements swift.

Any condition that damages this cartilage leads to pain, dysfunction and eventually arthritis. Injury, infection, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and bone dysplasias are some reasons that can cause damage to this cartilage thereby necessitating a hip resurfacing surgery.

Traditionally, such issues have been addressed by a total hip replacement (THR) which is a surgery to replace the hip joint by a prosthetic implant. A THR removes part of your healthy bone so the implant can be fixed deeply into the femoral bone. Patients also have certain movement restrictions following a THR surgery.

By contrast, resurfacing, which is a less invasive bone-preserving technology, replaces only the worn, diseased and damaged surfaces of the hip joint, and places an all-metal “ball and socket” implant in the hip joint. Resurfacing allows return to normal and sporting activities post-surgery, reduces the risk of dislocation and makes revision easy (if at all needed).

These reasons make hip resurfacing more favourable over hip replacement in certain specific cases. The anatomy and bio-mechanics after resurfacing mimic a normal hip very closely making it an ideal choice for young or more active patients with non-inflammatory degenerative hip joint disease.

HOW IS A HIP RESURFACING SURGERY PERFORMED?

Birmingham hip resurfacing implant (Image source: Smith & Nephew)

After separating the femur or thigh bone from the hip socket, your surgeon reshapes the head of the femur. Next, the diseased bone and cartilage are removed from the hip socket.

Then, the implant, which comprises of two parts – the metal shell component for the hip socket, and the metal ball component with a short stem for the thigh bone, is placed.

First, the metal shell implant is firmly pressed onto the hip socket. After this the surgeon drills a hole in the femur (so the stem of the femur implant can be fitted into it), fills the metal ball component with bone cement, and fits the ball on top of the thigh bone with its stem into the drilled hole.

Finally, the femur with its new metal head and the hip socket with its new metal shell are put together to form a new resurfaced ball and socket hip joint that looks and functions like a normal hip.

HIP RESUFACING SURGERY AND INDIA
In India, hip surgeons have been practicing the hip resurfacing procedure for over a decade while orthopaedic surgeons in most of the rest of the world are still new to this procedure.

In the United States, for instance, where this procedure is still not commonly performed, FDA approved the first hip resurfacing system only in 2006. It is no wonder then that surgeons in India are much more experienced in this procedure than their counterparts in America.

Today, the majority of hip resurfacing operations are performed in India on Indian as well as foreign patients. Each year thousands of hip resurfacing medical tourists from all across the globe head to India to not only be in safe hands but also enjoy a tremendous amount of savings.

You can find top hip resurfacing hospitals in India that are Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited. Additionally, several of the best Indian orthopaedic doctors are also either educated or trained internationally.

Taj Mahal, India

Hip resurfacing costs about USD8000 in India . This is so less compared to what U.S. hospitals charge for the same kind of service and quality that you can bring a companion along, spend on sightseeing and still save thousands of dollars.

OVERSEAS PATIENT TO INDIA FOR HIP RESURFACING
Richard, who hails from California, USA, had been suffering from osteoarthritis in his hips for a long time but was unable to get surgery in the United States, earlier because of unavailability of the procedure in the country and later because of the extravagant price tag it came at.

Facilitated by Healthbase, Richard had both his hips resurfaced through bilateral hip resurfacing surgery at Wockhardt Hospitals (now Fortis Hospital) in Mumbai, India, 3 years ago.

Being an avid sportsperson that he was, barely 12 weeks after his hip surgeries, Richard returned to snorkelling in the sunny Southern Californian beaches. In the past, Richard had problems walking from his car to his front door.

MEDICAL TRAVEL TIPS FOR HIP RESURFACING PATIENTS
Here are the top 5 things every medical tourist needs to do or remember for a successful medical travel trip:

Verify the credentials of the foreign doctor treating you.

Don’t let cost be the driving factor; focus on quality.

Keep your local doctor in the loop.

Don’t keep your trip too short; allow time for recuperation as well as sightseeing.

Engage the services of a medical travel facilitator like Healthbase. These are specialized medical travel agents that connect you with the hospital of your choice while providing all or some other valuable concierge services like detailed information about various procedures, detailed hospital profiles and surgeon profiles, medical records transfer, free surgery quote, pre- and post-consultation with the overseas hospital, feedback and testimonials from previous patients, medical and dental loan financing, passport and visa acquisition, airport pick-up and drop-off, hospital escort, tickets, travel insurance, hotel booking, sightseeing services in the destination country, etc.

Medical tourism, which is the practice of traveling from one place to another for medical care, is no longer limited to patients seeking conventional treatments such as hip resurfacing, spine fusion, knee replacement, heart bypass, lap band, cosmetic surgeries, or dental treatments. Today, many are going overseas to seek “unconventional” medical tourism treatments such as those for cancer.

Cancer patients may be driven abroad by low prices but what remains the prime motivator is the easy accessibility to the latest technology at overseas cancer hospitals.

COMPARING THE US AND ABROAD
Without a doubt USA is the pioneer of the latest medical technologies and the country invests heavily in cancer researches. Such developments have provided remedies for previously irremediable diseases, thereby prolonging and improving the lives of the critically ill. However, these advancements remain beyond the means of those who lack health insurance, simply because of the price tag at which they come, in the US anyway.

But, in India or Singapore or Turkey, for instance, not only are the same state-of-the-art technologies being used, the treatments are offered at a much lesser price making them accessible to a greater part of the populace. It is not uncommon, therefore, to see surgeons in Asia working behind the gamma knife or the CyberKnife or the da Vinci robotic surgical system, treating patients from all over the world and offering their services at a much discounted rate as compared with US rates.

COMMON CANCERS AND THEIR TREATMENTS OVERSEAS
Cancer hospitals abroad treat all types of cancers. Though most types of cancers are suitable for overseas treatment, a patient’s candidacy can only be decided on an individual basis. The more common ones that patients go abroad to cure are prostate cancer, breast cancer and thyroid cancer.

There are several types of cancer therapies available today. Some of them are: surgery, radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy, palliative therapy, etc. The specific treatment plan designed by the foreign doctor will depend on: (1) the type of cancer, (2) its stage, (3) whether it has metastasized to other parts of the body, (4) the patient’s overall physical health, and so on. The doctor may decide to give a combination of various types of therapies to increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

Following are some examples of cancer treatments given abroad to remove the cancer from the body and to treat the symptoms of the disease:
(1) Surgical resection of the affected organ followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy to remove any remaining cancer cells.
(2) Depending on distant metastases state and the pathology report, the doctor might use palliative or aggressive radiation therapy.
(3) A high dose IMRT of primary and lymph nodes (LNs).

ISSUES WITH SEEKING CANCER TREATMENT ABROAD
As is well known, the quality of care offered abroad is on par with what is available in the United States. So the treatment quality is not a concern. But what might be of concern is the duration of the treatment.

When you go overseas for a surgery such as a hip resurfacing or a heart surgery, you usually need to spend no more than 2 to 3 weeks in the host country. That’s true for most of the procedures you seek abroad. But in the case of cancer treatment, the duration of the treatment is a big concern. The treatment plan that the oncologist or the doctor designs can run over a period of several months. This means longer stays for the international patient and his companion which in turn translates to higher expenditure on accommodation. To resolve this and to generate more savings, Healthbase recommends seeking long-term accommodation in service apartments instead of hotels as the former cost much less.